Chapter 7
Getting Nasty
Hair of the Dog,
by Nazareth
Heartbreaker . . . soul shaker!
I've been told about you,
Steamroller . . . Midnight shoulder,
What they've been sayin' must be true,
Red-hot Mama,
Velvet Charmer,
Time has come to pay your dues,
Now you're messin' with a,
. . . a Son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)
Now you're messin' with a,
. . .a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)
Talkin' jivy, poison ivy,
You ain't gonna cling to me,
Mantaker . . . Born faker,
I ain't so blind I can't see,
Red-hot Mama,
Velvet Charmer,
Time has come to pay your dues,
Now you're messin' with a,
. . . a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)
Now you're messin' with a,
. . . a son-of-a-bitch (now you're messin' with a son-of-a-bitch)
Ron stood on the spot, stunned at what he saw,
"What have you done?" Ron asked, his voice still barely above a whisper,
"Oh, God . . . Ron . . ." Tara said, her eyes were full of fear, she appeared frightened.
At that time, a loud hissing noise caught Ron's attention, as the entire whole of the cheer squad, along with Monique, and Zita appeared in the doorway,
"Hello, Ronnie." Bonnie said, her eyes glowing crimson, and her fangs bared,
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Ron bellowed, looking dead into the eyes of the girls in front of him,
"Master wants his bride, Ronnie, and what Master wants, he gets." Hope Frazier commented, she was standing behind Bonnie, and to her right,
"Not today, Hope, and definitely not while I'm alive." Ron said, his body suddenly erupting in a blue-white light.
The squad all back peddled, and hissed loudly, as Ron erected his barrier over himself, and Kim, but a hissing beside of him suddenly caught his attention,
"Oh, God . . . not you too, KP." Ron said, looking down at Kim, who was now awake, her eyes glowing crimson, and three inch long fangs protruding from her upper line of teeth,
"I swore I'd never do this." Ron said, grabbing onto Kim with the reflexes of a cat, and holding her at arms length, he cut loose with a massive bolt of energy.
Ron watched, heartbroken, as Kim went limp in his arms, knocked out from the force of the energy wave which coursed through her body, he then teleported out of sight, had he stuck around to witness what that one move had done, he would've seen that the cheer squad, Monique, and Zita lay in disarray in the hallway, and two walls of the girl's bathroom had been completely blown away.
The Franklin Estate, 2781 Friars Road, north of Middleton:
Ron appeared in the massive foyer of the huge mansion, and looked around,
"WADE! WE GOT A MAJOR PROBLEM!" he bellowed, within seconds, the rotund African-American teenager, followed by Shego, walked into the foyer, to see Ron, holding onto a stunned Kim, she was pale as death itself, and the bite marks on her neck were plainly visible,
"Oh, God, bring her into the den, and I'll see what I can do." Wade said,
"I got some of the initial damage control out of the way, I put like half a million mental blocks on her mind, so that blood sucking piece of pond scum won't be able to control her." Ron said, laying Kim easily down onto the sofa in the huge den, and sitting down next to her,
"Well, whatever you did, it did the trick, buddy, somehow, you've locked her in place, she's a Dhampyre." Wade said,
"She's not a full vampire?" Ron asked,
"Nope, looks like whatever you did, you did it just in time, the infestation of her body has affected her DNA, but not her mental capacity, she's not a slave to Dracula, which means that she's free to think for herself." Wade said
"That's good to hear, but something tells me that there's some bad news involved too." Ron said
"Yeah," Wade said, "unfortunately, she's still prone to a vampiric thirst, and has to take care of it at least once a month, or she could go into a blood rage, and end up dying." Wade said,
"And when is the first one gonna take place?" Ron asked,
"As soon as she wakes up." Wade said.
A few hours went by, and still, Kim had not awakened, until now, ever so quietly, and slowly, she stirred in Ron's arms.
"KP . . . uh-oh." Ron said, remembering what Wade had told him would happen when she woke up .
Sure enough, when Kim's eyes sprung open, they were a deep crimson color, and her fangs began to form,
"KP . . . you okay?" Ron asked,
"Ron . . . I'm hungry . . . oh, my God . . . no . . ." Kim said, suddenly shooting up from her seat, and backing away from Ron looking scared,
"Kim . . . what's wrong?" Ron said,
"I need . . . oh, God . . ." Kim said, starting to cry, but there was something odd, she wasn't crying tears, she was crying blood,
"WADE!" Ron screamed, Wade came tearing into the room, followed by Shego,
"She's going into a blood rage, Ron . . . she needs her first feeding now, or she'll die." Wade said, almost in shock,
"Oh, great . . . just when I thought things couldn't get any worse." Ron said, pulling up his shirt sleeve, and walking up to Kim,
"Bite down, Kim." Ron said, extending his arm in front of her,
"No." Kim said, clearly shocked at what Ron was saying, he was planning to sacrifice his life to keep her alive, there was no way she would allow that,
"I said bite down, Kim . . .if you don't, you'll die." Ron repeated,
"Then, I'd rather die, than hurt you." Kim replied, it was at this time, Shego snuck behind Kim, as if reading Ron's mind,
"DAMMIT, IF YOU WON'T DO IT, THEN I'LL MAKE YOU!" Ron shouted, and shoved her fangs into his arm, Kim tried to back away, but Ron's hand held her head firmly in place, as Shego pushed down on her shoulders,
"I don't want you do die, Kim, and this is the only way." Ron said,
"Just do it, Kimmie, no one's going to hurt you here." Shego said in a soothing tone, Kim let out a racking sob, and finally relented.
After she had her fill, she finally let go, and had pretty much returned to normal, Ron quickly wrapped his arms around her in a protective manner, and began rocking her back and forth,
"Shh . . . let it out, Kim, just let it all out." Ron said, as Kim sobbed into his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears, Wade and Shego looked on.
Wade was heartbroken to see his two best friends this way, he knew that Ron meant well, but he had done something he swore he would never do in his life, he had forced Kim to do something she didn't want to do.
The look on Shego's face was unreadable, she knew that Ron was deeply in love with Kim, and never wanted to hurt her, but this noble act was something that she couldn't comprehend, how could Ron be so forceful one minute, and so gentle the next, what kind of person was he, to have this Jekyll and Hyde personality?
Kim had fallen asleep in Ron's arms, crying the whole time,
"I'm gonna take Kim upstairs . . . Shego, could you do me a huge favor, and have an ice pack ready for me when I come back down . . . that stung." Ron said, lifting Kim into his arms in a cradle, she noticed that the bite marks on Ron's arm healed up, and were completely gone,
"That was quick," Shego commented after Ron left, "it usually takes me twenty four hours to a week, depending on the injury."
"Ron's a one-of-a-kind." Wade remarked.
Ron came downstairs a few seconds later, and gratefully took the ice pack from Shego,
"Thanks." he said, sitting back down on the sofa, and placing the ice pack down on his arm,
"What's the next move?" Shego asked, looking at Ron,
"Well, I got to go back to the school tomorrow, I'm gonna leave Kim here, because this is going to be a bit of a social call." Ron said, looking at Wade, who nodded,
"Who are you planning on recruiting, Ron?" Wade asked,
"Well . . . I was thinking Brick Flagg, and Mr. Barkin, I'm sure they'll come in handy." Ron admitted,
"Yeah . . . while you're at it, get Felix Renton, and Josh Mankey too, I'll more than likely need their help as well." Wade commented, to a nod from Ron, who got up, and headed back up the stairs,
"I'm gonna crash for the night, I got the alarm set for six o'clock, that'll give me enough time to get a shower, get shaved, and to school, just keep an eye on Kim . . . did you get in touch with the slaughterhouse down the road?" Ron asked,
"Yeah . . . first shipment is due in tomorrow morning, I'll sign for it, and the money will be taken directly from your account." Wade said,
"Just in case it doesn't make it, I think that we should all donate about a couple pints of blood for the cause." Ron said,
"I'll donate a couple pints, and place it in emergency stores." Wade said,
"Cool." Ron replied,
"Same here, that way, none of us ends up too weak from blood loss." Shego commented, which received a nod from Ron, and a grateful smile.
In the Master Bedroom on the second floor:
Ron slipped into the bed, where only a few minutes before, he had so gingerly placed a sleeping Kim,and laid down beside her, she had curled up into a fetal position, and was awake, holding her knees close to her chin,
"KP . . . you awake." Ron asked,
"Uh-huh." Kim mumbled,
"I'm sorry, Kim, but I didn't want you to die, my life is nothing without you." Ron said bluntly,
"No, Ron . . . I'm sorry, for . . . biting you ." Kim said, sobbing slightly,
"Hey, you got nothing to be sorry about, hon . . . don't worry about it ." Ron said soothingly, he laced his arm around Kim's waist in a protective manner, she quickly snuggled in close to him, and began to drift off into sleep again .
A few seconds later, Shego walked into the room, and slipped into the massive bed,
"Feeling better, Kimmie ?" she asked,
"Shh," Ron said, placing a finger to his lips, "she's finally asleep again ."
Shego nodded, and looked at Ron with a smile on her face, she dozed off, dreaming peaceful dreams of her, and Ron, together at last.
The next morning :
Kim awoke first, to find that Ron was already gone, Shego stirred, and opened her eyes to look around the room.
"Looks like Stoppable decided to get an early start ." she commented, noticing that the clock only read 5:30 .
"Where did he go ?" Kim asked,
"He said something about paying a social call to the school today, a recruiting visit ." Shego commented,
"The more, the merrier ." Kim said, slipping out of the bed, noticing that she was wearing Ron's hockey jersey as a night shirt,
"Tell me about it ." Shego said, standing up, and revealing green underwear, she quickly grabbed her familiar green and black body suit, and zipped it up, preparing to start her day .
In a cave system, somewhere in Middleton:
"YOU FOOL !" bellowed a voice in a heavy German accent, "Do you have any idea what you have just done ?"
"I thought it would break his spirit, master ." came the voice of Fukushima, laying on the ground, not meeting Dracula's eyes,
"It did nothing of the kind, you brain-dead fool, you merely succeeded in angering him, now, he will not stop until we're all dead ." Dracula said,
"Master is right, Fukushima, you have no idea the kind of power that Stoppable carries with him ." came the voice of Monkey Fist from the shadows,
"If I didn't need you, Fukushima, believe me, you would be dead where you stand, now, because of your ignorance, I have to go about this another way." Dracula spat out, as though the words were poison,
"I only was trying to please you, master ." Fukushima said,
"Humph . . . please me, hardly, I'll leave punishment up to you, Lord Fiske, do with him as you will ." Dracula said, stalking out of the cave, and disappearing into the night .
Middleton High School:
Ron walked up to his locker, and grabbed his books, appearing as though he was going to class, even though he had no intentions of attending any of them, as he closed his locker door, he saw Monique, standing to his right, raiding her locker.
"Oh, great, look who shows up, just when I didn't need to see her ." Ron said sarcastically,
"Hi, Ron . . . uh . . . how's Kim ?" Monique asked, somewhat nervously,
"Oh, she's fine . . . she's a Dhampyre now, thanks to you and your new friends . . . other than that, she's fine." Ron stated flatly,
"Ron . . . I . . . I'm sorry . . . but . . ." Monique began, but Ron cut her off,
"Oh, get off it, Monique . . . if you're sorry, than I'm the King of Egypt ." Ron said,
"Ron . . . I am, I mean it . . . you don't understand, I can't disobey an order from my master ." Monique said, a sad look crossing her features,
"Well, your master can kiss my lily white butt ." Ron said scathingly,
"Ron . . . please . . . I don't want to hurt you ." Monique said,
"You won't." Ron said, turning, and walking away, at that moment, Brick Flagg came around the corner, and stopped beside of Monique,
"Hey, Monique, we still on for Friday night ?" he asked,
"Uh . . . yeah . . . sure, Brick." Monique said, walking away, as she passed Ron, he leaned in close, and whispered, so that only she could hear,
"If you even think about sinking your fangs into his neck, I'll make sure that you won't live to regret that mistake ." He drove home his point by giving Monique a small mental jolt . Monique gave a sad smile, and continued to walk away.
As Brick drew close to Ron, Ron pulled him off to the side, and talked to him,
"Uh . . . Brickster, do you think that was a wise idea ?" he asked,
"It's only a date, Ron-man, no big ." Brick replied,
"Do you trust me ?" Ron asked,
"You know I do, I have for a long time now ." Brick replied,
"Okay, take Monique to the detention room, and turn off the lights, trust me on this one, Brick ." Ron said,
"Okay . . . I'll need a few minutes, though ." Brick said,
"Alright . . . you got five minutes, the detention room, Brick, I got your back ." Ron said, walking in the direction opposite of his first period Chem class .
The detention room, five minutes later:
Brick opened the door, and let Monique into the room,
"What do you got planned, baby boy ?" Monique asked, looking up at Brick,
"It's a surprise." Brick said,
"Yeah . . . but the detention room . . . it's home of the Lifetime Losers Club ." Monique said,
"Don't let Ron hear you say that," Brick said, "besides, it's also the quietest room in the school right now."
Monique smiled, and walked in, as soon as they were in, Brick reached over, and locked the door, then, he did as Ron asked, and shut off the lights with one movement of his hand, what he saw, made his blood run cold.
Standing in front of him, where Monique should be, was a pair of glowing crimson colored eyes,
"HOLY CRAP . . . WHAT ARE YOU !" Brick shouted, now scared out of his mind,
"Brick . . . I . . ." Monique said, becoming real fidgety, then, she let out a loud gasp, "RUN . . . NOW!" she yelled, as a loud hissing escaped her mouth, she lunged for Brick, but stopped short, as the glowing blue-white edge of The Lotus Blade came down between her, and her target,
"I don't think so, Monique." came a familiar voice to her right, she turned to see a set of eerily glowing ice blue eyes, but it was the voice that made her stop in her tracks, the voice of Ron Stoppable.
Suddenly the room was filled with a loud chorus of hisses, as Ron reached for the lights, once they were on, he saw the whole cheer squad, standing behind Monique, all of them looked ready to fight,
"All this . . . for moi, you shouldn't have ." Ron mocked,
"Master has ordered your deaths, you are all cattle to him ." Bonnie said, looking at Ron with a frown,
"Does cattle fight back, Bon-Bon ?" Ron asked, smirking,
"You're the exception to the rule, Ronnie, and a cute exception too . . . too bad master wants your head on a platter ." Bonnie responded,
"I don't see that happening in the near future, Bonnie ." Ron said, his smirk still in place,
"KILL HIM, SLAVES!" came a voice with a heavy German accent,
"Please try . . . I'm looking for a good scrap." Ron said, twirling around The Lotus Blade, and taking up a battle stance.
Hope was the first to charge at Ron, she ran headlong at him, tears streaming out of her eyes as she did so, he quickly sidestepped the beautiful Chinese-American, and whacked her hard across the rump with the blunt edge of his sword.
"Bad Hope . . . you ought to know better." Ron mocked,
"Ooh . . . kinky." Bonnie remarked,
"Stick around, Bon-Bon . . . the fun's just started." Ron said, the bright blue-white aura around him suddenly becoming brighter,
"Don't even think about leaving, ladies, you'll get a rude awakening if you try." Ron said casually, Tara attempted to leave via shadow porting, but fell backwards onto the floor,
"Classic vampire trap tactics 101, how to trap a vamp in a psionic field . . . you like ?" Ron said, the rage suddenly becoming more noticeable in his face,
The girls all hissed, and attempted to run full tilt at Ron, who got a real bored expression on his face,
"This is getting SOO old." he said, suddenly cutting loose with an energy blast that tossed every girl in front of him into the wall opposite like rag dolls, when the girls came to, they suddenly looked around, once their eyes locked onto Ron, they got scared,
"Wha . . . what happened ?" Tara said, rubbing her head,
"I don't know ." Monique said, looking at Tara with a puzzled expression on her face,
"Oh, God . . . Ron." Marcella said, pointing Ron out to the rest of the group, he was standing near the center of the room, the only other girl still on her feet was Bonnie,
"Your call, Bon-Bon." Ron said, looking at the tanned beauty, and smirking,
"Get up and fight, master orders it." Bonnie said, looking back at the other girls,
"I don't want to." came the reply from Tara, as the other girls nodded their agreement,
"Looks like it's just you, and me, Bonnie." Ron said, this was all the motivation Bonnie needed.
She charged Ron, who lifted his right arm in front of him, Bonnie's fangs quickly penetrated the skin, he looked at the bronzed beauty, and arched an eyebrow,
"Enjoying yourself?" he asked,
"You . . . taste funny." Bonnie said, she quickly began gagging, and vomited all over the floor in front of her,
"Oh . . . I forgot to mention that I'm immune to vampire bites . . . among other things." Ron said, smirking once again,
Bonnie waved her hand in front of her, and a trail of blood came from her hand, and arced in the air, before forming into a Roman style short sword,
"A blood sword, nice, Bonnie, now, let's see what you got ." Ron said, once again, dropping into a battle stance.
Bonnie charged at Ron, who suddenly got a serious look on his face, her sword was way above her head, and she was running full tilt at him,
"You've already lost, Bonnie." Ron said, as she began her run.
As Bonnie drew her sword higher, in an attempt to bring it down on Ron's head, Ron ducked, and shoved The Lotus Blade deep into Bonnie's abdomen.
Bonnie let out a blood curdling scream, as her sword melted, and disappeared, Ron then pulled the sword out, and hit her with a pulse blast that sent her through the opposite wall.
"Any other takers?" Ron asked, looking at the cheer squad, all huddled near the teacher's desk, in the back of the room, none of them said a word, as Ron stalked around the room,
"I've raised the barricades, now, get out of my sight, before I change my mind." Ron said, a hard edge to his voice .
One by one, the girls disappeared into the shadows, all of them had tears in their eyes as they did so, only Monique looked back at Ron,
"Ron . . . please understand, we didn't want to, he forced us ." she said, then slipped into the shadows, where she disappeared along with the others,
"What the hell was that, Ron-man ?" Brick asked, still rooted to the spot in fear,
"They were vampires, Brick . . . every one of them." Ron said, now allowing The Lotus Blade to form around his arm in a bluish colored bracelet,
"What do you want from me ?" Brick asked,
Ron dug his car keys out of his pocket, and tossed them to Brick,
"I want you to go to the old Franklin place north of town, and wait there for me, I still got some more recruiting to do ." Ron said,
"Barkin's not here today, if that's who you're looking for, he called in . . . I think he's still a little rattled about what happened in the girls bathroom yesterday ." Brick commented,
"Yeah . . . he's not the only one ." Ron replied,
"You had something to do with that, didn't you ." Brick said,
"Yeah, they got to Kim yesterday, lucky I got there when I did, or fang face would have her by now ." Ron replied,
"As for Josh, and Felix, they've been gone all week, no one's seen, or heard from them since." Brick commented,
"Just grand . . . more bad news I didn't need to hear, this week is really starting to be a bummer." Ron said in a sarcastic tone,
"The old Franklin estate north of town, that's about 20 miles away, Ron ." Brick commented,
"I know, and it's closer than the Palmer townhouse, that's 25 miles away, in the heart of downtown." Ron replied,
"Alright, I get the picture, I'll be there." Brick said, heading out of the room,
"And don't take any detours, or make any stops along the way." Ron said to Brick's retreating form, the well built blonde waved a hand to show that he heard, and understood.
Ron quickly reached to the wrist Kimmunicator, still strapped to his right wrist, and punched few buttons on it,
"Wade, I need you to run scans on the Renton, and Barkin homes, I'm heading to Josh Mankey's place." he said,
"On it, I should have the info for you by the time you get to Josh's house, bud." Wade said,
"Cool, I'll be expecting it . . . Ron out ." Ron said, punching the button to end communication with Wade, a few seconds later, in a flash of blue-white light, Ron was gone .
The home of Josh Mankey:
Ron walked through the front door of the Mankey house like he had done a thousand times before, but the usually orderly house was a complete mess, it appeared as though a natural disaster took place, most of the damage was contained within the living room, where books were strewn all about, most of them missing pages, sketches of Ron, and Kim, in happier times were tossed about, most of them ripped in half, and the television set had a huge hole in the picture tube,
"Wade, I'm at Josh's place, and it looks like a hurricane went through here." Ron commented, as he activated the wrist Kimmunicator one more time,
"Well, I hope you're braced, bud, because I got some bad news, the Renton place is just as bad . . . wait a minute . . . Ron, I got a faint life sign at the Renton place, in the kitchen . . . oh, God, Ron . . . it's Felix's mother, Jane, she's in a bad way." Wade said,
"I'm on the way, get in touch with Seamus Hubble, and have him meet me there ." Ron replied,
"On it." Wade said, signing off,
"You're not dying on me, Jane . . . hang in there." Ron said, disappearing out of sight in a flash of blue-white light.
At the home of Felix Renton:
Ron appeared in the living room, and the first thing he saw, was Felix's cyberchair, sitting, unoccupied, in a corner of the room, he stored this in the back of his head, for further review, he had little time to waste, if he wished to save Jane from certain death, he walked into the kitchen, what he saw almost made him loose his lunch on the spot.
Jane Renton was face down on the tile floor, her blood was pooling around her head, her face was half buried in her own blood, Ron bent down, and found a weak pulse, immediately, he began first-aid, and treated the head wounds, and the small bite marks on her neck, which appeared to not puncture the skin, but it was dimpled in two small spots near the base of her neck,
"Ronnie, me boyo, you in here ?" came the voice of a man with a thick Irish brogue,
"In the kitchen, Seamus." Ron hollered out, recognizing the voice of Middleton Police Sergeant Seamus Hubble,
"Saints preserve us . . . what happened in here, Ronnie?" Hubble said, looking shocked,
"Three guesses." Ron said, pointing to the dimples on Jane's neck,
"Another one of those attacks ?" Hubble asked,
"Yeah, but it looks like she wasn't killed the old-fashioned way." Ron said,
"She's not dead at all, but she's got some severe blunt force trauma to the head, I got the Paramedics coming behind me, you'd better make yourself scarce, laddie." Hubble said,
"Already gone." Ron said, disappearing in a flash of blue-white light, and reappearing a block away, just as he reappeared, the wrist Kimmunicator went off again,
"Ron, you need to get to Barkin's house, they're there, and trying to bust into his bedroom." Wade commented,
"Tell him I'm on the way, Wade . . . Ron out ." Ron said, cutting off communication,
'What is this, the Vampire Olympics?' Ron thought to himself, as he appeared outside of Mr. Barkin's door, he quickly established contact with the principal of the high school,
"Mr. B., it's Ron Stoppable, how are you holding up?" Ron asked,
"Hurry, man, I have no idea how long the garlic is going to last!" Barkin shouted back,
"I'm right outside, I guess it's time to make my presence known." Ron stated, cutting off the mental link with Mr. Barkin, and establishing one with the vampires in the house, he soon realized that they were the same ones that attacked he, and Brick in the detention room,
"Ladies . . . ladies . . . The Ron-man has arrived!" Ron mentally shouted to them, suddenly, Ron saw commotion on the first floor, as several window shades were flung open, and the girls all stood, open-mouthed at what they saw,
"Don't act surprised, you should've known I'd have Barkin's place wired." Ron commented, it was at this time, that a pungent smell hit Ron's nostrils,
"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up, Count Dracula." Ron said, turning around.
Sure enough, directly in front of him, stood Count Dracula, dressed in a black tux, his long black cape billowing out behind him,
"You are quite the pest, Mr. Stoppable." Dracula said, almost lazily,
"Stick around . . . you'll find I'm full of surprises." Ron commented, bracing himself for a fight, but hoping that he wouldn't have to,
"It would be so much easier if you joined me, think of what we can do together, we can rule the world, and have the entire human race at our beck and call." Dracula commented, trying to lure Ron to join him,
"Tempting . . . but no." Ron said,
"Then you leave me no choice but to kill you, stupid boy." Dracula spat out,
"If you want to go that route, I got an idea . . . do you gamble ?" Ron asked,
"It depends . . . what's the wager?" Dracula asked, Ron quickly looked at the front door of the Barkin home, and it flung open, as though blown inward by a strong wind,
"First thing's first, I want your word as a gentleman, and a vampire, that you'll agree to the terms of the deal." Ron said, staring Dracula in the eye, he knew that a vampire's word was their bond, and to break it would be their deaths,
"Agreed." Dracula said.
At this point, several of the girls in the house got real scared, and began begging Ron to back out of whatever he had planned,
"SILENCE, SLAVES!" Dracula bellowed, turning to look at the girls, who all fell silent at once,
"If you agree, then say it." Ron said, wanting to bind him to the deal he was about to make,
"You have my word as both a gentleman, and a vampire, that I will agree, and abide to the terms of the deal, and produce the wager . . . should you win." Dracula said,
"Good . . . the wager is them, if I win, I get them, lock, stock, and barrel, if I lose, I walk away, and you'll never hear from me again," Ron said, jerking his thumb to the house, where the girls now stood, in complete fear, "the game is hand-to-hand combat, no weapons of any kind, that includes your fangs, the one that runs, cries "Uncle," or is knocked out, or killed, is the loser."
"If that's what you want, Mr. Stoppable, let's sweeten the deal . . . if you lose, you become my servant." Dracula said, smiling,
"And how do you intend to pull that off, I can't be turned, or mind controlled ." Ron said,
"That's the beauty of it . . . you will have to do it willingly." Dracula replied,
"Fine, you got a deal, now, ditch your weapons." Ron said, and watched, as Dracula dismissed two broadswords, which disappeared into smoke.
Ron removed the Lotus Blade, and looked to the door, Mr. Barkin walked out, and to Ron's side,
"Hold this for me ." Ron said, handing the beautiful katana to Mr. Barkin, who nodded, and walked back into the house,
"The cloak . . . lose it." Ron said forcefully, he was aware that Dracula could use the cape as a weapon just as effectively as he could wield a pair of swords,
"As you wish." Dracula said, removing his cape, and dismissing it with a wave of his hand,
"Let's get this party started." Ron said, dropping into a fighting stance,
"Indeed . . . let's." Dracula said, charging full tilt to Ron, who was able to sidestep his foe, and plant a massive side kick to the chest, it succeeded in knocking Dracula to one knee, but not out, as Ron had intended,
"Not bad, boy, but you can't win against me, I have centuries of experience." Dracula said,
"Well . . . I'm feeling lucky today, bring it." Ron said, smiling,
"Your luck is about to run out, boy." Dracula said, grabbing onto Ron's right leg, and tossing him several feet, before he came to rest on Mr. Barkin's front lawn.
Ron hit the ground hard, little white lights popped in front of his eyes as his head hit the ground harshly, he quickly got back up, and shook it off,
"Not bad . . . but you still didn't stop me enough." Ron said.
Within seconds, the two were locked into a deadly dance that had everyone mesmerized at the timing of the blows, both of whom seemed to land a lot of them, but Dracula finally got the upper hand with a heart punch that staggered Ron backwards a couple of steps, he followed up quickly with a roundhouse kick to the chest, knocking Ron on the ground, winded, but not defeated,
"Yield, boy, I have the advantage . . . don't force me to kill you." Dracula said, a satisfied smile on his face,
"Then you'll have to kill me, because I'm NOT giving up." Ron stated flatly,
"Foolish boy." Dracula said, preparing to take Ron out with a blast of dark energy, but something began to happen.
Ron looked up at Dracula, who was suddenly shocked into complete stillness, Ron had erupted in a blinding blue-white light, the wounds he had received had begun to heal in front of the undead Prince of Darkness's eyes,
"Looks like I got my second wind." Ron commented, doing a perfect kip up from the ground, and standing on his feet,
"INCONCEIVABLE!" Dracula shouted, but that was the only word that came out of his mouth, a second later, Ron cut loose with an energy blast that sent Dracula across the street, and hard into the building on the other side,
"Want some more of this?" Ron asked, his body still encased in the blinding aura,
"We will meet another day, Ron Stoppable, and I will have my victory over you." Dracula said, disappearing into the shadows, the fight had drained him of most of his strength, and he needed to return to his coffin, so he could rest,
"Remember the deal, count, the girls are mine." Ron said, emphasizing the terms of the bet that was made between him, and Dracula,
"You can have them, I can always acquire more servants." Dracula's voice echoed throughout the night.
Ron turned back to the house, and walked in, Mr. Barkin walked up, and looked at Ron,
"You look like hell, Stoppable." Mr. Barkin commented,
"Right back atcha, Mr. B." Ron said, a pained smile on his face,
"What do you plan to do with them?" Barkin asked, pointing to the girls, who all looked nervous,
"Well, I'm pretty much stuck with them, so . . . I'll do what I have to do." Ron said, accepting The Lotus Blade from Barkin, and nodding,
"Now what?" Barkin asked,
"I'll need you to go to the old Franklin place north of town, and stay there, I got some friends waiting there for you, pack what you need, and go, don't take any detours or shortcuts, and don't make any stops along the way, they'll be expecting you in about ten, to fifteen minutes." Ron said.
Barkin nodded, and left the house for his garage, a few seconds later, the sound of a car engine, and the crunching of tires on pavement signaled his departure.
"Ladies, can you come in here for a second . . . I need to talk to you all." Ron said, motioning for the girls to come into the room, they all did, eyeing The Lotus Blade, which was still in Ron's hand,
"Are you going to kill us?" Zita asked, frightened out of her mind,
Okay . . . I get the hint." Ron said, placing the sword back around his arm, where it shaped itself into a bracelet.
"What are you gonna do to us?" Monique asked,
"I'm not going to kill you, if that's what you're thinking, so get that idea out of your heads right now." Ron said,
"Then what are you going to do?" Bonnie asked,
"Well . . . it all depends on you, Bonnie, each and every one of you." Ron said, still being evasive,
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Marcella Hernandez, who so far, had been among the quietest of the group,
"Well, you heard what happened outside." Ron said, to the nods of all the girls,
"Master made a wager with you, he bet us that he could beat you in a fist fight." Hope said,
"And he lost." Ron replied,
"Does that mean you're our new master?" Tara asked with excitement in her voice,
"Like I said, Tara . . . it all depends on you . . . so, I'm about to give you a choice." Ron said,
"What's the choices?" Monique asked,
"One . . . you can walk away, and I'll not think any differently of you for doing so . . . or . . . I can create a bond between each of you that will lock you to my mind, and soul . . . the choice is yours." Ron said,
"What will happen to us if we accept?" Jessica Tanner asked, her blonde hair falling down into her eyes,
"It'll create a bond that no one can break, not even myself . . . it's a little complicated to explain, but trust me, you'll never have to worry about Dracula giving you orders to do what you don't want to do again." Ron said, this brought several smiles to the girls present,
"Count me in." Monique said,
"Same here." came the voice of Liz Baker, the only other redhead on the squad, besides Kim,
"I'm in." came the voice of Crystal Donovan, the only African-American on the squad,
"Ditto." Zita replied,
"I'm all up in it." Hope replied, smiling widely,
"What about you, Bonnie, you've been pretty quiet." Ron said, looking at the bronzed beauty,
"Well . . . you shoved a sword through my stomach, and now, you tell me that you want to bond with me . . . forgive me if I don't believe you." Bonnie said,
"Bonnie . . . no, all of you . . . listen to me," Ron began, "I had a chance to kill each one of you on several different occasions, I've had you traced from the moment I first found what happened, but I never made a real move against you . . . as for the sword business, Bonnie, that was a point that I made very clear, I easily could've killed you on the spot, but I didn't . . . can anybody answer this question . . . why didn't I?" Ron said,
"Because you knew that were being forced to do things we didn't want to do." Jessica said,
"One right answer." Ron replied,
"You knew that what happened to us wasn't our faults." Hope chimed in,
"That's two." Ron said,
"There's a third?" Crystal asked,
"Yeah, there's a third . . . I cared about you all too much," Ron said flatly, "I doubt you'd believe me on this, but to see what had happened to you all, it hurt me more than any of you would ever know . . . to see what you were put through just tore me up inside every time I thought about it, I swore to myself, from the first time I found out what happened, that I would try to find a way to get you away from him, and here we are." Ron said,
"So, you're saying that you've felt something for each of us?" Bonnie asked, stumped, this was the last thing that she would ever expect to come from the mouth of Ron Stoppable,
"Yes, Bonnie, I have, for a long time now . . . I just kept silent about it . . . mainly because I didn't want to embarrass myself." Ron replied, a kind of lopsided smile on his face,
"What'll happen if we bond with you?" Jessica asked,
"Unfortunately, it'll end up permanently sticking you as Dhampyres, there's no turning back from that, once my power bonds us, you're stuck, that's the price that will be paid, as for me, the price paid is going to be a major power drain, because I don't know if I have enough to start the bonding process." Ron commented,
"It beats being a full vampire, I guess, I'll be able to eat normal food again." Bonnie commented,
"You'll have all of the strengths, and skills of a vampire, without any of the weaknesses . . . well, maybe one weakness ." Ron stated,
"What weakness is that?" Hope asked,
"A monthly thirst for blood." Ron warned,
"Once a month is better than every night . . . alright, I'm in." Bonnie said, smiling a genuine smile,
"Okay, ladies, I need you all to look at me, and do not break eye contact, don't even flinch." Ron said, the girls obeyed, with smiles on their faces,
"I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to be painful, for all of us, so, I'm giving you one last chance to back out now." Ron said, none of the girls moved from their spots,
"Okay, ladies, hang on, this is going to be a wild ride." Ron said.
Suddenly, Ron's body erupted into a blinding blue-white light, a few seconds later, the girls all fell to their knees, screaming in pain, as Ron's powers reached their peak, three bright columns of blue-white light shot up to the sky, two taking off due north, while the other took off due west. When the smoke finally cleared, Mr. Barkin's house lay in shambles, and Ron was kneeling on the floor, the steam billowing off his body,
"Master . . . are you alright?" Bonnie said, running up to Ron, and touching him lightly on the arm,
"That . . . was . . . intense." Ron said evenly, he tried to stand up, but his knees gave out on him, and he collapsed to the floor once again,
"We'll help you master." Jessica said, leaning over, and taking Ron's right arm, while Zita grabbed the left, and flung it over her shoulders, they effortlessly lifted Ron to his feet.
At that same time, the wrist Kimmunicator went off,
"Go, Wade." Ron said, allowing his right arm to come to his face,
"Ron, what happened, we just registered a huge power spike in your location?" Wade said,
"I'll tell you when I get back, Wade." Ron said,
"Yeah, well, we got a real problem with Kim, and Shego, they keep asking for their master." Wade said,
"Put 'em on, it might explain things a little better." Ron said, a few seconds later, Kim's and Shego's faces appeared in front of him,
"Master, are you alright?" Shego asked,
"I'm fine, Shego, just a little tired." Ron replied,
"Master, when are you coming home?" Kim asked,
"Soon, KP, real soon." Ron said, smiling, they retreated, and Wade's face once again appeared on the screen,
"Looks like part two of the prophecy just came true, didn't it?" Wade asked,
"Yeah . . . with a vengeance." Ron said, signing off.
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